biryani

Ending 2017 on a Biryani note! It’s that time of the year to pen down our favorite Biryani places. Biryani exploration is what excites us the most – the joy of going out and discovering places is something that keeps us going. Last year we had listed 6 lesser-known joints, but this year’s list just grew bigger! To make things more interesting, we have teamed up with Pawan Krishna aka Tindipotha for the same. Here are some of our favorite Biryani picks for 2017 in Namma Bengaluru!

Old is Gold:

Shivaji Military Hotel, Banashankari

One of the iconic places which has been serving delicious biryani for decades to the people of Namma Bengaluru. The aromas from the kitchen has the power to make people wait for hours! Spicy biryani and a big list of starters are the only things that put a smile on our faces 🙂Price for 2: ₹500Location:https://goo.gl/maps/T69no2Q9AvF2

NV Naidu Hotel, KR Market

Spot in the heart of the Market, NV Naidu Hotel is been serving biryani since 1969! A small place located on the busiest streets of Bengaluru is no short of surprises. Biryani, Dose, and Kaal Soup is common to all tables. What better way to start your day?Available for Breakfast: YesPrice for 2: ₹600Location:https://goo.gl/maps/iTJi4uq4aYQ2

Shivajinagar Gardi Ustad, Shivajinagar

Akhada turned into a restaurant. Shivajinagar Gardi Ustad Pehlwan Kale Bhai Biryani is probably one of the oldest places in Bengaluru, serving only lunch, a limited menu consisting of biryani rice, side dishes (chicken, mutton, and fish) all week long. On Fridays, they add Mutton Biryani which gets people standing in the queue!Price for 2: ₹400Location:https://goo.gl/maps/b9r4MmyjmhM2

Newly Explored:

Hotel Sahana, Wilson Garden

Recently explored place, which left us all in biryani coma. Hotel Sahana is located near Wilson Garden, a hotel which serves some of the best preparations in non-veg. Keema, Chops, and Biryani were just excellent! There’s something about their sherwa which made us go for another round of biryani.Price for two: ₹300Location:https://goo.gl/maps/BBjX896pSRN2

Halli Jonne Biryani, Jayanagar

Halli Jonne is the next place that gets super crowded easily on weekdays as well! It’s nearby Cool Joint, and anyone passing by can spot the place because of the aromas. Tasty Biryani, less on spices but had me going for a second serving! Chicken fry, on the other hand, was a hit, a better companion to biryani. Suggested for early lunch.Price for 2: ₹400Location:https://goo.gl/maps/APuzvN2ARst

Amba Bhavani, Basavagudi

A hidden gem of South Bengaluru which has a deadly combination of kaal soup (paaya soup) with idly or dose. They also have a good batch of mutton starters & of course a unique mutton biryani (typical Bengaluru pulav). They’ve biryani for breakfast on Sundays.Available for Breakfast: Yes, on Sundays.Price for 2: ₹450Location:https://goo.gl/maps/6yaoeacCJGT2

Papanna’s Biryani, Banaswadi

Papanna’s is one of our go-to places for biryani. We keep going back for their nati-style biryani! We’ve had two or three of the same from a local place but nothing comes closer to the one served here. And not to forget their daily changing menu for starters!Price for 2: ₹400Location 1:https://goo.gl/maps/9TwLdZCnek32Location 2:https://goo.gl/maps/6uGMf13C2j72

Anand Dum Biryani, Hoskote

3days a week and breakfast only – this place surely knows how to wake up people and make them drive outside the city for delicious biryani and paya soup. They start around 6-6:30 with approx of 1400servings. Sooner you reach, the better chances of getting a plate of Biryani.Available for Breakfast: Yes (Tuesday, Friday & Sunday)Price for 2: ₹500Location:https://goo.gl/maps/a382Ve6z1eT2

Shivaji Military Hotel, Sahakaranagar

The one to look over in this place is the authentic mysuru style mutton pulav which is extremely good considering its quality and quantity. They also offer nati style chicken and mutton fry with mudde (ragi ball) and much more. Recommended visiting for a lunch.Price for 2: ₹500Location:https://goo.gl/maps/M7FbgWbVLn72

Chandrappa Hotel, Mathikere

Known for their signature pork dishes, this probably is the best place to have nati style pork in namma Bengaluru. All the pork dishes are exclusive. Pork biryani is a must try here. Other than that they also have some 5 chicken and mutton starters and biryani.Price for 2: ₹400Location:https://goo.gl/maps/kjGqUmLNHBG2

Sri Banashankari Donne Biryani, Banashankari

This place has a very unique and delicious donne biryani, varieties of lip-smacking chicken and mutton starters. And also do visit here on a Sunday morning and try idly & leg soup combo. Not to forget the breakfast biryani! 😋Price for 2: ₹300Location:https://goo.gl/maps/WXiRbCh8NiC2

Sharief Bhai, Koramangala

5 meals in last 2 weeks – This tells you how much we love the biryani here! Sharief Bhai focuses on Muslim cuisine and brings in the decade-old recipes, homemade spices and ghee to the table. They are open till 2am, so say ‘yes’ to midnight cravings 😀Price for 2: ₹500Location:https://goo.gl/maps/PYvocVTdMk12

PS – Do you also love biryani just like us? If yes, are you a part of Bengaluru Biryani Club? If not, where have you been? They organize meets to bring Biryani lovers together to share everything related to biryani!

Disclaimer – We are not saying they are the best, but some good places we’ve come across! Prices are subjected to change on how much you plan on eating! We aren’t affiliated with any of these restaurants. And also we’ve visited all these places on our own, many times before making this post. Our fat bellies and empty wallets are the proof of same 😛

There are days when I wake up to the essence of Biryani, courtesy of mom (of course*). But then there are days when mom’s out of station and I just crave them. I’m a fan of the regular joints such as Shivaji, Paradise, Meghana, and Nagarjuna. But the love to discover local/lesser known places never fades. This blog post is a result of the exploration. Here are 6 lesser-known joints which serve scrumptious biryani in Namma Bengaluru.

Srinagar Kabab Center
Also known as Celtrapolis, is located near Srinagar Bus Stand. They serve pudina flavored biryani, both mutton, and chicken along with few other gravy recipes. Don’t forget to order a plate of chili chicken too!
Price for two: ₹300
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/XJkpsTi5ijG2

New Gowda’s Fried Chicken
Also known as GFC, is famous among the locals for being featured on a regional TV show. The biryani served here is kinda mid-way between Donne and Ambur! Kabab is the side dish you can get here.
Price for 2: ₹250
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/dJvdL5dYuEE2

SGS Non-Veg/Akkipete Biryani
I guess this is the only place I’ve been hogging since my childhood. Back then as takeaways and now as breakfast 😀 Menu is pretty simple with just the Chicken Biryani and Rice.
Price for 2: ₹200
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/onghJZYBg3B2

Papanna’s Biryani
Lazy Evenings = No Cooking = Papanna Time 😀 Andhra style and Naati Style Biryani are one of tastiest in the neighborhood! And not to forget the daily changing sides menu and Mutton Biryani (limited to Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday*), makes it different from other places.
Price for 2: ₹300
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/MqNHja2KjEv

Sri Maruthi Hotel
My breakfast Adda on weekends! It’s a Pudina flavored biryani, looks similar to the one served at Srinagar Kabab Center but entirely different taste-wise. You can also try their Dose and Paratha with chili chicken.
Price for 2: ₹300
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/zZZrnjiC2ev

Biryani Day
In and around Malleshwaram, this is my best bet! Even though there are a lot of places, but none of them had me going back except for this place. They serve donne biryani and the menu has a couple of sides too.
Price for 2: ₹300
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/apLpdQgZfHT2

Disclaimer – Prices are subjected to change on how much you plan on eating! I ain’t affiliated with any of these restaurants. And also I’ve visited all these places on my own, many times before making this post. I’m not saying they are the best, but few of the good places I’ve come across! My fat belly and an empty wallet is the proof of the same 😛

“Nothing brings people together like good food” but Jalsa Gold is one step ahead by setting the ambiance right! The first Gold themed restaurant in India and happy to say it is in Namma Bengaluru! I was mesmerized just by the sight of it. Lunch like a king, feel like a king and live like a king while you’re at Jalsa gold. Glasses to Cutlery, everything is 24K Gold plated! Not to forget, even the smallest details are taken care of 🙂

Jalsa Gold is a North Indian restaurant with few continental options. A couple of days back, I was here with few of my friends for lunch and this is how it went;

As we sat down, we were welcomed with cucumber-mint & watermelon drink. Just the refreshment I was looking forward too after riding through Bengaluru’s traffic! Their buffet spread is huge and not to forget the interesting À la carte menu. I’m a light eater myself unless there’s biryani in the menu.

I haven’t been a fan of bitter gourd until I savored Karela Salad at Jalsa Gold! The preparation doesn’t even make you realize it’s made from bitter-gourd! A shout-out to Bhatti Ka Phool and Kajun Fries for making me think veg appetizers can also be interesting!

On the non-veg side, I loved Murgh Kasturi Kebab and Fish Amritsary. I happened to go for another serving for Fish Amritsary – crispy on the outside, and soft well cooked on the inside. Not to forget the Chicken Pizza, super thin crust with a layer of cheese and chicken tikka.

For the main course, I choose Butter Naan along with Railway Mutton Curry & Mangalore Fish Curry. Railway Mutton Curry is one of the best mutton preparations I’ve had in a long time. Loved everything about it!

As I said before, I have a special corner for Chicken Biryani and when they got in Biryani – there was nothing else I needed! Perfectly cooked with long grain rice, just the way I love it!

I was pretty stuffed by then, but couldn’t resist myself from having Rasgulla and Gulab Jamoon with Ice Cream. They also have continental desserts.

The service is quick and staff doesn’t rush food onto the plate like elsewhere. While there are many buffet options, I recommend you try Jalsa Gold once for a complete dining experience altogether.

Ps: Perfect place to dine with your loved ones 🙂

Cost: ₹1400 for two (without alcohol). ~ ₹2000 for two (with alcohol).

What if you could really get to eat a wedding feast without having to wait for someone to get married? From golgappas to tangdi kabab, from grills to shadi ka biryani, from rasgulla to kulfis. Too good to be true for anyone, but not anymore.

You heard us right, Barbeque Nation is hosting a wedding themed festival, majorly based on the popular dishes served at a wedding.

The entire ambiance gave the feel of a typical wedding scene and the music can make anyone start dancing! The waiters were dressed up in the traditional wear and this is one of the reasons why we are regulars at Barbeque Nation – they take care of the tiniest detail.

Barbeque Nation is known for its DIY on the grill, so without much further ado – we started off with some Pardesi piya ke Paneer Wale Tikke and Taka Tak Mushroomi Mausi on the grill. Of the both, mushroom turned out to be my fav because of it’s stuffing. Crispy Corn and Cajun Spiced Potato are the dishes we look forward to each time when we are at Barbeque Nation.

The main course had a variety of dishes! Started off with some Chilli Chicken and Noodles before moving onto BIRYANI! Delicious chicken biryani after a long day of work is just what I needed.

Do we like to finish in style? Definitely! I love the kulfi’s at BN and who’s to stop us? Paan’s my all time fav. Apart from this, we also had rasgulla, brownie, and the humble vanilla ice cream :p

The festival is on from 26th Oct to 12th Nov, so book your tables now and visit the nearest outlet (Indiranagar, JP Nagar, Lido Mall, Koramangala, Kalyan Nagar, Marathahalli, Rajajinagar, Electronic City and Whitefield).

I have started exploring places which serve biryani, in my free time. There are a lot of hotels which serve amazing biriyanis, just that we need to find and visit them! This time, I decided to try something away from Bengaluru, a place which is easily accessible and be back before dusk.

Mysuru was the first city that popped up to my mind! Along with my two other foodie buddies, I visited two famous hotels and trust me, we had a wonderful food journey 🙂

On the quest of finding the biriyani hotel, we came across Hotel Hanumanthu (Mysuru). They have been serving Mutton/Chicken Palav (something similar to biryani) for almost 90 years now! Easy journey through train or vehicle. A little research online revealed the history and all the celebrities who had dined there. Since the journey was on foot, we planned to have Palav for breakfast or brunch.

The plan was simple – travel to Mysuru, jog till Hotel Hanumanthu, eat Palav and head back to Namma Bengaluru. Little did we know what Mysuru had planned for us! As this was a weekend food-getaway, we kept the spendings to minimum.

There are plenty of trains running between Bengaluru and Mysuru, starting from 4 am. We took the 6:30 am Hampi Express and reached Mysuru around 9:45 am. I must confess, Mysuru is a beautiful city! It has wider roads, long canopies on both sides and also less traffic compared to Bengaluru.

As we got to the main road, two of my friends started to jog while I reluctantly declined the offer and walked. Google Maps has multiple listings for Hotel Hanumanthu, so getting the right one is important. After a tiring walk and bad-listing, we arrived at Hotel Hanumanthu a little too soon for lunch, 1.5hrs to be exact. This left us sad and even hungrier, so we Googled for other hotels and found Hotel Mylari!

20mins and an Ola-auto ride later, we found ourselves at Hotel Mylari. In simple words – small entrance, 16-20 seatings, homely feel and friendly staff. Chose their speciality – Saagu Masala Dosa and were taken off at the first bite! Soft, fluffy and topped with butter made it a complete package. What’s Dose without coffee, right? So we sipped coffee, talked about things while our Palav was getting ready at Hotel Hanumanthu.

15mins Ola-auto ride and 5mins walk later, we were back at Hotel Hanumanthu. As we walked towards the hotel, the aroma increased exponentially! The staff were happy to see us back, so were we. Simple order – 2 plates of Palav, chicken kabab and chicken kurma. They served it for us, a few photos and then we sat down to the important meal of the day. We had our first bite, looked at each other in awe! Light on spices tasted way better than expected and even put some off to the so-called biryani’s at Bengaluru aside! The Sherwa was spicy and complimented Pulao.
The return was similar to the morning, a train at 2:30 pm. We spent a little time in railway station taking photos and recording videos. Did I mention that the entire railway station is covered by Google Wi-fi, so that you don’t get bored while waiting! All in all, this turned out to be way better than what we had on our minds.

We live in a time where the international foods are more easily available compared to local food! It’s so easy to order food these days, but none of them deliver the local street food. Local food/street food needs a lot of exploration, nothing comes easy especially when there’s no online presence of them! It is purely based on the word-of-mouth and personal experience.

I happen to live in one of the oldest neighborhood of Bengaluru, and this basically means there are food establishments from even before my parents moved in. While they tend to serve the larger crowd, there are quite a few underrated places which serve tasty dishes! So here’s a small write-up dedicated to people who are responsible for getting me out of the home because food-delivery apps don’t have them.

First up is a bajji cart at Malleshwaram. A tiny cart, serving varieties of bajji with spicy mint chutney which doesn’t cost you more than ₹2 for a piece. It tastes so good that even the politicians can’t stop themselves from grabbing a bite! The cart has been around almost 10years (or maybe even old) and I’ve been a regular for almost 3years now.

Next is a chat shop at Malleshwaram, again. I was introduced to this place by a friend. A small place on a corner of the street which serves Masala Puri, Bhel Puri, Dhai Puri and a lot more. While the taste is nothing extraordinary, the staff are the reason why I keep going back. Super friendly and they ensure the customers have a good experience all the time!

Last one on the list a biryani place we landed at while we were exploring the streets of Shivajinagar. The place had a rustic vibe, filled with people and aroma of sheek kababs! While some came in, finished their meals and left, others surrounded the biryani-guy outside waiting for their take away. They serve Ambur biryani, but what caught our taste buds was the juicy kababs.

We live in a time where international foods are more easily available compared to local food! It’s so easy to order food these days, but none of them delivers local street food. This is where Nouns come in. It’s a new app which basically operates around the idea of bringing the local street food to the internet! I’ve been using the app for quite some time and I must say it’s pretty amazing. Being able to find local food on the internet is something I was waiting for a very long time! Download the android app @ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nouns&rdid=com.nouns